Restaurant-grade Stir Frying in Your Own Backyard

by

Mitchjoel

Dong Zhou came to Oregon from his native China in the early 90s to pursue a PhD in Electrical Engineering. He lived in a small apartment near campus, which had a tiny kitchen. Even though he had a strong passion for cooking, his school workload did not allow him much time in the kitchen. Most nights he would prepare a stir fry dish, because it was healthy and tasty, and most importantly, it was quick.

Making a stir fry dish is one of the simplest, cheapest, and quickest ways of creating a healthy and satisfying meal. Most stir fry dishes use a wide range of vegetables, which add important micro-nutrients that fill the nutritional gaps in daily diets. But stir fried vegetables also make the dish look vibrant and colorful, making the entire experience a rich one.

Even though Dong loved making stir fry dishes, the smoke would overwhelm him in his small apartment. When Dong moved to the Midwest for his first job, he continued to pursue his passion for stir frying. But this time, he decided to create a set-up in his backyard, so he did not smoke up his apartment.

Stir frying requires extremely high heat at the very bottom center of the wok, which then spreads along the perimeter of the wok to create the correct heat distribution. This extreme temperature of stir frying requires the cooking oil used to have a high smoking point, so its fatty acids do not break down and it does not burn. In most Asian stir fry recipes, peanut oil is used. But a healthy alternative is a good Mediterranean olive oil, which helps reduce cholesterol and improve heart health. Also, because of the extremely high heat used for stir frying, only a small amount of oil is needed to quickly sear the vegetables and meat, thus allowing the ingredients to retain their natural colors and flavors and preventing them from absorbing too much oil.

Dong looked for an outdoor stove that had enough power for proper stir frying, but could not find one anywhere, So, he decided to buy a deep fry stove instead, which is traditionally used in Southern (U.S.) cooking. And a wok set. That experiment turned out to be a disaster. He ended up burning his hands the very first time he used the stove! And the dishes turned out soggy and overcooked, because the stove did not create the correct heat distribution in the wok.

This is when Dong persuaded his friend, Michael Loth, to help him modify the stove. Michael had a machine shop in his basement. Together, they created and tried many stove designs. After months of experimenting, they came up with a design that created the correct heat distribution for stir frying, but was also safe to use. To celebrate, Dong made a complete dinner on their new stove for Michael and his family. To this day, Michael\’s wife remembers it as \”the best food I have had in my life\”!

Dong and Michael decided to patent their new invention. But the cost to pursue the patent was high. So, they decided to manufacture and sell their newly designed stir fry stoves to pay for the patent. Dong and Michael were issued patent number 6619280 by the US Patent Office in 2002 – http://www.google.com/patents/US6619280.

The Rock Your Wok stir fry stove is a result of Dong s and Michael s creativity, hard work and passion for cooking.

Wilfred Martis drives all marketing activities for Rock Your Wok (http://www.rockyourwok.com/). Rock Your Wok manufactures and sells a patented outdoor stir fry stove that brings restaurant-grade stir frying to your own backyard. Buy yours now at http://www.rockyourwok.com/outdoor-stir-fry-set/.

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